Quito, Nov 7 (IANS/EFE): Ecuador produced 506,400 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in September, down 1.1 percent from the same month last year, the Central Bank said.

Production still grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, the Central Bank said.

Output at state-owned Petroecuador and Petroamazonas, along with production at Operadora Rio Napo, totaled 370,600 bpd in September.

Operadora Rio Napo, a joint venture between Petroecuador and Venezuelan state-owned oil giant PDVSA, operates the Sacha field.

Privately owned oil companies produced 135,800 bpd.

Ecuador, the smallest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, exported 11.4 million barrels of crude in September, a figure that was up by about 158,000 barrels from the August level.

The Andean country produced 6.1 million barrels of petroleum derivatives at its three refineries in September and imported 3.7 million barrels of petroleum derivatives, the Central Bank said.